"Oh No! He's Dreaming Again!"

"ANAKEPHALAIOSASTHAI" - Christ uniting, gathering up, bringing together

It has not happened in a very long time. But recently it did! And it's both terrifying and exhilarating.

Yes, as the title suggests, I am dreaming again. Not just any dream. But one of those dreams that grips ones imagination and just won't let go, making you feel, very presumptuously, that God is trying to tell you something. That is always terrifying for me.

My dream.

Carla and I were in a house I didn't recognize. But it was ours. We lived there. We felt safe. Secure. Provided for.

Sometime in the middle of the night, I awoke.  I got out of bed and climbed the stairs to the second floor. As I emerged onto the landing, which opened out onto a large room, I noticed a brown-like shape trying to crouch behind a chair, or a piece of furniture like it. I knew it to be some kind of animal. It was sizable, and it was trying to make itself as small as possible. Clearly I had come upon it unexpectedly and the furniture it had chosen for cover was too small and inadequate to hide behind.

Instinctively I knew this creature wasn't supposed to be there. In my house.

I don't know if it was out of fear or anger or surprise, but I shouted in a loud and threatening  voice, "What are you doing here?"

At first the creature kept silent, trying to make itself smaller, desperately trying to disappear.

I shouted out again, "What are you doing here?"

Grabbing a dining room-type chair for protection should I need it, I shouted some more. Slowly I began advancing on this unknown creature that had invaded my house, intending, with the chair, to direct it towards the stairwell up which I had just climbed so that I could chase it down and out of my home and life.

Realizing it could not escape detection, the creature unfurled. I could now see it's full size and it's face. It's eyes were making furtive glances towards the stairs, the direction of escape. Then it would look back at me, hesitating, like it didn't know what to do and was struggling to make up its mind. The creatures eyes seemed to show both fear and a desperate appeal for mercy. It was anything but threatening in its' hesitation, looking back and forth from escape route to me.

The creature turned out to be a female lion. And as I advanced on her, shouting and wielding my chair, she began in desperation, her anxiety level very high, to shake her head back and forth in anguish, crying out, "I don't want to go. I don't want to go."

The creature spoke!

Much to my surprise we began a conversation. "What do you mean you don't want to go?" I asked.

"I don't want to go" she repeated, adding, "I've been living here for six months" [she might have said for a number of years but that detail blurs here].

I was incredulous.

"What do you mean you've been living here for six months?" I asked.

"Yes" she said, "I've kept very quiet, but I've been here for six months. You didn't know. And furthermore, I have three babies with me."

"What?" I asked.

My complete and total disbelief would have been obvious to any observer as I lowered the chair, finally realizing I had nothing to fear. Totally disarmed now in more ways than one, I understood that this mother was just trying to protect her children and keep them in a safe and secure place, even if it meant hiding in some one else's home.

"Well," I responded, "I want to see them."

And into the room rolled three little bundles of joy, much like any dog lover experiences when their dog has a litter of puppies who just want to cover you with sniffs and licks and unbounded joy.

I was totally won over at this point, captured by this gentle mother and her three children who I didn't even know had taken up refuge in my home.

Then it ended! I woke up. My dream was over. And I was left wondering what it all could possibly mean.

*   *   *

My interpretation.

Remarkably, this turned out to be quite simple.

The mother lion represents creation. For millennia earth has cared for us, absorbing our waste while providing an abundance of resources. But now she is unable to continue doing so. We now need to care for her. After all, she has moved into our homes and is asking for care and protection.

How will we respond? Life, in all its beauty, wonder and joy is itself at risk.


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Want "A Brief History of God's Unfolding Promise to Mend the Entire Universe?" Consider taking the class, Bible 101 - "Manna and Mercy." Covenant Community Classroom will offer this class again early in the new year. (The graphic above comes from that graphic novel).